HR: Why The IQ/EQ balance is important

When hiring a new staff member, what are the key criteria you look for outside of the competence or experience in fulfilling the job description?

We live in an age of collaboration and knowledge sharing and so the ability to positively influence situations and navigate your way around day to day scenarios with tact and diplomacy are fundamental to success. Intelligence, experience and skill are essential for success but we must stop thinking of intelligence as knowledge gained in academia. It is now widely accepted that the most successful among us have a blend of IQ and EQ, the proportions of which are widely disputed. We define and measure EQ in 5 areas. They are Self-awareness/self-control, Empathy, Social skills, Personal Influence & Motivation. So how do you screen for EQ? Here are a few questions that may help:

Tell me about a time when your actions positively impacted someone else?

Have you ever been in a situation where you realised that you have had to change or modify your behaviour? How did you notice this?

Tell me about a time you have had to prepare yourself for a situation you knew would be negative. What did you do? How did it work out?

Have you ever received criticism? What was it? Were you surprised?

Tell me about a time that you were angry with someone at work. What did you do?

Situational questioning will require you to observe not just the answer but how the interviewee is answering and how comfortable they are with the questions, but you will be ensuring best possible chance of securing a well-rounded professional who will flourish and succeed in a broader range of environments and circumstances.